That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore..

as Morrissey one proclaimed....

Mr Hurst...your apparent complete inability to see the plain obvious is wearing thin......just what did you see in LJL's overall performance this evening to warrant him completing 90 mins?

Seriously??

Not a dig at LJL as he just had a bad day but as manager you need to act when faced with such performances.

Hurst's inability to pick players on merit or react to the game's situation is becoming increasingly frustrating! You could make a bet that he'll make subs at around the 70 minute mark each game, and that it won't be LJL, even when he's squandering endless chances!
We were just lucky today that Telford were worse than us, because we were awful!

I suppose you'd have to say that LJL was at least getting into the positions to have the chances and the keeper made a couple of decent saves from him! He should certainly have scored at least once from the 3 one-on-ones he had, however, though Jolley and Arnold missed similarly good chances.

Can't believe we didn't beat that really poor Telford team more convincingly though.

It's funny - I went with my Luton-supporting mate tonight, so he lends an objective pair of eyes. He last watched us in Spring last season and tonight he said 'I told you a year ago you'd never get promoted with John Lewis leading your forward line, and what are you still doing....?'

The players and fans may have wanted more goals, but all Hurst would have been thinking was to see the game out and hold the lead , so to have that strength and outlet up front is priceless... That's probably his thought process. He is very defensive minded remember.

Quoted from springstomind

He is very defensive minded remember.

Too defensive minded, especially against poor teams! Also the formation was too rigid, leading to unnecessary passes sideways and backwards. The times when we passed it quickly forward we carved them open!

I would love to see his stats this season for chances on goal, missed etc. I could easily of bagged them chances last night.

I like Lenny, but I must admit he should have scored a couple last night and probably set up others as well. Having accepted that he saw more goalmouth action than any other player and he made most of the chances himself through his strength and hard work. I think he started to beat himself up a bit as the chances came and went and he is trying too hard. Needs to be a bit calmer when the scoring opportunities come to him. Seems to want to blast it each time and I can't help thinking Palmer might have tucked some away.

Agree with what's been said, but at least he was getting into positions to score. Did more than Jolley for me.

One thing I noticed was how deepJolley went to go looking for the ball and to help out. This meant that he was too far away from Lennie. Both worked very hard last night, just not really together.
Lennie clearly trying too hard and probs needs a rest.

The cure is going to be a fit Ollie Palmer coming back to share the strain up front - in his few games he has shown that he can play as a target man and move defenders round where they don't want to go, making room for other Town players. L-J L seems to be much more aware of where Ollie is than any of the other forwards, prime example was the Barnet home game, where they made mugs of the Barnet defense.

He also has the one quality that J-L L has not, a natural finish to his game. he will score goals..... maybe not many with his head for a big lad, but.....

A fit Ollie Palmer in the team all season at this level would probably reap 20 to 25 goals with current players ably assisting in setting up chances.

Let's be fair though to Lenny, if his brilliant double twist, control and shot that hit the bar had gone in instead of rebounding out, we would have possibly talking of the goal of the season from our top goal scorer - margins are so thin.

But..... he needs a rest from expectations of goals in every game - he is a frustration player - every miss makes him snatch more at the next to make up for the last miss, and he always seems to get in the prime position to score but cannot deliver !

Looking forward to Ollie back in the team on Saturday - decisions to make, Mr Hurst !!

I don't expect a goal every game from JLJ . Great athlete ,average footballer .


Utm

It appears the thread is heading down an LJL front which was not the point, the original post is regards the willingness, ability, understanding of the manager to recognise when a player is just having a bad day and a change is required.......despite all our possession, all our good work, the dominance we had we were one mistake, one fluke away from not winning and that would have been disastrous following such a one sided performance.
Imagine being Macca, Pearson, Toto, Magnay and one mistake in a game like that costs the team points despite you watching the forwards continually missing chances or failing to capitalise on excellent positions.., soul destroying, ...that miskick of Macca's...i think we all thought..oh sh1t...here it comes....lucky for us the player fluffed his lines.

Perhaps it's the speed and style of play at home that is frustrating - one game played at pace that destroys the League leaders - another against the bottom team that is a nightmare show - A NIGHTMARE AS IN NUMBERS OF CHANCES CREATED AGAINST THOSE ACTUALLY TAKEN.

Same players for the most part, playing two totally different scenarios - can we not just tell the players that every team is one place above us and needs a good tonking in front of our fans !

Away - it's the brilliant away fans that constantly make the players aware that they are playing in front of genuine supporters - thick and thin followers, people who spend vast amounts of money to watch THEIR TEAM !!

You can tell if the last 20 minutes of matches are going to be nail biters like last night or dismal non games like Bristol when the team seems to retreat 10 yards back towards McKeown and suddenly slow down and pass sideways.

The "offside goal" chance being the only highlight of the second half does not inspire fans to return. To win, you have to score one more goal than the opponents - blatantly obvious to everyone !.

To do that, you need to be in their half of the field more often than Town are in the last 15 to 20 minutes of most home games.

So ...... Ollie was in goalscoring form prior to the injury, give him another go now he's fit again.

Rest L-J L and take some pressure off him if necessary.